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INDEPENDENT SYDNEY BASED RECORD LABEL - SHOP |
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Welcome to the Fog Blog #2
"Revolutionising the music industry... every Thursday"
Is Rock Dead?
How many times have we heard that question? Every time it gets asked, a new band comes along to prove that it isn't. Kings of Leon are a good current example. But a more important question has been worrying me lately:
is the rock n' roll lifestyle dead?
It seems that the backstage access, after-parties, groupies and exclusive VIP treatment, traditionally associated with real rock stars, have become available to just about anyone. All you have to do is enter a competition, usually via a pay TV channel with music in it's title (who don't actually PLAY music) and you can "Live like a rock star". But you can't really. Because rock stars, even tragic ones, still create something. They still manage to give back to their audience. Competition winners, on the other hand, have no talent, have never worked to gain a following and aren't
worthy of your attention... so they've entered a competition and now they are hanging out backstage with the limo waiting outside whilst the champagne is chilling back in the hotel suite.
My question to you... are these type of promotions de-valuing the rock n' roll experience? If anyone can be a rock star, what is there left for the real rock stars to do? Email me at: fogblog@foghornrecords.net
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You Can't Spell Star Without A&R
Ideally, this will become a regular section in the Fog Blog as well as a
great opportunity for feedback regarding interesting stories of misguided
ability and just plain artist v. record label stupidity. We would love to
hear your stories... the best one will get published and will win something.
To get you into the mood... a rock band I once worked with were notoriously
difficult to get along with. The singer, in particular, was well known for
being a pain. One Sunday morning at 4 o'clock, I received a phone call from
him. He was in Newcastle. He couldn't remember how he got there... it was
possibly with someone from silverchair... anyway, he needed to get back to
Sydney immediately. He demanded that I book a helicopter to fly him home.
I hung up and went back to sleep...
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Speaking of not being in touch with reality... Click on the link to this
very entertaining story regarding how the recession is affecting some of the
biggest hip hop stars in the world. And remind me not to get any financial
advice from Buckshot!
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=32128
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Revolutionising the Music Industry
We've all read about the death of the music industry and how the growth in digital sales is yet to match the decline of physical sales. But apart from
re-arranging the deckchairs on the sinking music business ship, there seems to be little discussion on how the business can tackle FREE music and still make a quid. In the interest of conversation starting...
how about this idea...
If people are intent on downloading music illegally from the net, why
doesn't the music industry find a way to levy the ISP's? Stop suing them,
stop trying to block their access to torrent sites and the like. All you do
is work out how much money is made each year from legally downloading music in Australia. Divide that amount by the number of internet accounts and attach a flat fee to their yearly broadband charges. Then make all music FREE to download. The money collected goes into a pooled account and is distributed in a fashion similar to how performance broadcast monies are paid.
This way you don't alienate the very people you want to discover and hear
new music and you can leverage the scale of the internet to do what radio
used to do... ie. break new artists. As mobile internet usage rates
increase, you can extend the concept to mobile phone downloads as well. The flat fee is indexed to the rate of inflation. Easy peasy. And if you become a fan and you REALLY want to own a copy, the artists can package their music similar to how Nine Inch Nails are handling things these days. Everyone wins.
Or, if that doesn't work for you... you can check out this as an option...
here.
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Freestylin' with Michael Peter
At a packed Bar Me in Kings Cross last week, Michael Peter launched his
latest album Something Along Those Lines. It was a bittersweet night as
Michael and the band were in excellent form but unfortunately, long time
drummer Jeff Doukakis will be leaving pursue other interests in LA. Lucky
bugger. During the last song, Michael was joined by one of the support acts with some amazing freestyle rapping. And who said Sydney audiences can't clap in time? We had some full on syncopation going there!
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This weeks gratuitous photo of David Lee Roth.....
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